The present invention relates generally to generation of high-energy electrons, and more particularly to electron excited x-ray fluorescence (EXRF).
High-energy electrons may be used for medical or other material excitation applications such as etching or probing.
Other than through natural phenomena, high-energy electrons are generally generated by high voltage accelerators that require high voltage power supplies. When electrons of a sufficient energy strike a target or sample, they can dislodge an inner shell electron creating a vacancy. When this vacancy is filled by the capture of outer shell electrons, an x-ray with characteristic energy is emitted. This process may be referred to as electron excited x-ray fluorescence (EXRF). Conventional x-ray fluorescence is carried out by the excitation of inner shell electrons by x-ray irradiation. This process requires the use of an x-ray source. X-ray generators are inherently inefficient because the conversion of high energy electricity to x-rays takes place through collisions, only a small fraction of which have sufficient energy to result in x-ray radiation.